Please join us in welcoming guest author Joel Frey, one of the Travelocity Roaming Gnome’s most trusted publicists.

Call me a sucker for good PR.  Over  the years, I've read a handful of glowing travel stories on Marfa, Texas, a town of a 2,121 people about 200 miles southeast of my home in El Paso. Most of these reviews first focused on the "Mystery Lights," followed by a summation of the artist Donald Judd's ties to the area and wrapped up with a few paragraphs on a revival which has seen an influx of galleries, restaurants and renovations spring life into an otherwise a dusty ranching town. Inspired by The New York Times, my wife and I recently spent a weekend there.

We here in San Francisco always groan a little when visitors rent a car. After all, Fog City is one of the few destinations in the U.S. where it's not necessary to have a car to see the sights. Why pay all that money just to leave the rental in the hotel's parking garage?

Often in the U.S. when we think about "car-free destinations," we think of big cities like New York City, Boston, and San Francisco. But what should you do if you want to go car-free and get away from the hubbub of urban life? I now have an answer for you: visit Santa Barbara.

Please join us in welcoming Jennifer Baggett to The Window Seat. She is the co-writer of the blog The Lost Girls and the new travel memoir of the same name.

Whenever I tell people that I spent an entire year of my twenties backpacking around the world with two friends, fellow Lost Girls Amanda and Holly, one of the questions I’m most often asked (after “Wow, and you three are still speaking?”) is “What was your favorite place?”

After two visits to New Zealand, I am very familiar with travelers' number-one question: just how long does it take to get there? The answer: about 18 hours’ flight time from the U.S. East Coast, or three in-air viewings of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But here’s why Down Under is worth the long haul: once you land in New Zealand—no matter where you touch down—some of the world’s most varied and striking landscapes are a stone’s throw away. In fact, you can visit half a dozen pristine national parks in the time it took you to fly from New York to New Zealand; big on beauty and small on space, New Zealand’s geography favors travelers tight on time. Plus, all Kiwi national parks welcome visitors with free entry and hospitable overnight huts.

Last week, we celebrated Earth Week on the blog. Pamela Wolff, the Director of Strategic Alliances and Industry Partnerships for the Motorcoach Council, reached out to share the environmental benefits of traveling by motorcoach.

Today she's stopping by our blog to answer a few questions about motorcoach travel and how to go green on the road.

1)    What’s the environmental impact of traveling by motorcoach?

Motorcoach travel is the most environmentally friendly form of transportation available, the greenest way to travel in North America.  Motorcoaches currently provide over 206 passenger miles per gallon of fuel compared to 92 passenger MPG for commuter rail, 44 passenger MPG for domestic air carrier, and 27 MPG for single passenger automobiles.  Each motorcoach has the potential to take 55 cars from the road reducing congestion, saving fuel, and cutting emissions.

Hey Steve,

It's been a while since we talked. First up, I just wanted to say thanks again for my MacBook and my iPhone. They have completely revolutionized how I travel, which is well documented here and here and here.

There are travelers out there who firmly believe that gadget-free is the only way to go globetrotting, but don't worry. The Gadget Guru is always trying to win hearts and minds to the ways technology can enhance a travel experience.

Which leads me to my reason for writing. Do you have a moment to chat? Steve, Steve, Steve. I had Wednesday, January 27th marked on my iPhone calendar as Tablet Day! No one was more excited than me about TABLET DAY!!!

I don't play chess. You could call me uncultured, but I probably wouldn't hear you. I'd be too busy stabbing at a flashing, beeping, handheld touch-screen trying to save the president from exploding skeletons. And let's be honest--most of your fellow airline passengers will be doing the same this season.

But what if you don't have the latest Megafastatron3000 gaming system in hand when you step into the airport? Are you doomed to manipulate magnetic rooks across a tiny chess board? Are you stuck shoving backgammon stones down endless rows of triangles? Nope! Because I'm about to lay down the travel game suggestions, 2009-style.

It's not even Thanksgiving, and many cities already look like Christmas. Department store windows are festooned in silver snowflakes and star-shaped lights, and some have even sprung up genuine evergreens.

But in some places, the holidays aren't just a winter affectation. Check out these pit stops and roadside attractions that do "seasonal" in a big, weird way:

Gozzi's Turkey Farm (Guilford, CT)

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Recently I discovered How I Met Your Mother, which means I was the second-to-last person on Earth to get obsessed with it. This show nails what it's like to be a young adult in the city. And so far my favorite episode has been "Murtaugh." In it, Ted says he has a list of things he is now too old to do, like pull an all-nighter or drink from a beer bong. The list is named after the main character in Lethal Weapon, Roger Murtaugh, who famously says, "I'm gettin' too old for this sh*t." But the item on Ted's Murtaugh List that resonated the most with me was: Crash on a friend's futon for the night instead of getting a hotel room.

I knew I could make the move from New York City to San Francisco the moment I first laid eyes on Napa Valley. It felt like a wonderland to me, a spot of much-needed European charm and pastoral quietude just a quick hour down the road from the hustle and bustle of the city.

And now three years into my great California adventure, I have developed my way of enjoying Napa and Sonoma. Much like how Coloradans debate the relative merits of competing ski resorts, we here in the Bay Area enjoy holding forth about the "right way" to explore the wine country. There are two valleys to choose from, at least 10 quaint towns, and a huge variety of activities, including hiking, biking, wine tasting, gourmet dining, air ballooning, spa going, and more.